questions about some programs

[michigan]

Hi all, third year interested in anesthesia here. I know it's match time and all, but if anyone has some time some info would be great:
1) My stats are admittedly not great. Step 1 199, some honors preclinical and some clinical. Avg. med school. Do I have a shot if I apply to enough programs? I'm not needing a big-name U here..
(I plan on Step II early and killing it)

2) Let me just make sure before I schedule electives, I want to do 2 audition electives early at places I will rank highly?

3) Any advice at all on anything about the following programs:
Univ of Wisconsin
Med coll Wis
Maine med center
St. Elizabeth's boston
U of Vermont
Any Chicago program
Univ of Michigan
SUNY Upstate and/or Buffalo
The 2 Seattle programs
Any other programs that I should look at?
Thanks in advance so much! This whole year is flying by and I have to get in gear really soon to apply early and do this thing right.

mich

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[R U SED 8]

Hi Michigan,

Welcome to the board! Now that match is over (for many of us), we've got nothing but time!!!!!

I want to preface that next year's gas match will most likely be much tougher than what we faced this year. But having said that, I know of several candidates (myself included) that were pretty strong (but NOT exceptional) candidates, that interviewed at several programs and matched! I would recommend doing well on Step II and I cannot overemphasize the importance of doing a rotation or two at programs you could see yourself in! You'd be really surprised how far a letter from a big whig at your program of choice can get you!

Anyways, in regards to your programs, I am a little curious in that your list seems to be a very random assortment of programs. I am one of the few idiots that is a die-hard Chicago/midwest freak, and I can only give you some insight on that. In addition to what we've already covered in the "Chicago Programs" discussion recently, I can tell you that you won't go wrong with any of the programs in Chicago, minus Cook County. (See other discussions on IMG friendly residencies, etc). In my humble opinion, UofC, NW, and Rush are probably the top 3 Chi programs; Loyola and UIC strong followers, and Illinois Masonic last b/c it is a community-based institution and not a hard-core university program. MCW is an excellent program that is nationally recognized for its research and is one of only a small handful of programs that can say it was filling back in the day when no one wanted to do gas! The only downside is you actually have to spend your life in Milwaukee!? Hope this helps.....

 

[frotteurism]

Hmmmm...you just brought up what became possibly the most difficult decision for me in choosing my fourth year rotations...i.e. whether to do an externship rotation at a program where you would like to match.

I asked maybe 100 people over time whether this was a good idea.

About half said what you just said, that "the importance cannot be overemphasized..." and that it can make all the difference in helping you match there.

The other half swore it was a terrible idea and could pretty much only hurt you (including the Iserson Getting into a Residency book). They said that you pretty much had to have a spectacular experience (which is dictated largely by factors out of your control, e.g. who you happen to work with, whether the gods were with you when you tried to get that difficult intubation in front of the program director) and that anything but a spectacular experience would hurt you.

Anyway, I elected not to do any externships. The anesthesia dept at my school strongly suggested it would be a waste of time.

Was it the right decision? Well, if I match where I want to go, the answer is obvious. If not, the answer is obvious. We'll find out in 2 days.

My only real point is that this is definitely a controversial issue.

 

[gas-x]

actually, i think rotating at the programs that you're interested is extremely important. many programs offer courtesy interviews for those who visit. you get your face noticed. just don't do anything really dumb. i think you can also get to know some residents who might put in a good word for you. if your first choice is your home program, then not visiting other programs would be OK.

 

[ApacheIndian]

Originally posted by frotteurism
.

I really have nothing meaningful to contribute but... GREAT handle bro!

 

[R U SED 8]

with all due respect to iserson, i think gas-x makes a much stronger argument for doing the elective externship! in fact, i personally know of an individual who matched last year based SOLELY on the "courtesy interview!!" (i.e. he was not originally invited to interview based on ERAS).

as long as you don't kill anyone or represent yourself as a complete *****, you just want to get some face time with the attendings and residents. these are the people you are going to have to work with for 3-4 years (& vice-versa) and they just want to see if you're really someone they want to put up with!! if there's a definite click (which you might have to work on), you'll get some strong support.

don't worry about the prick attending which you'll find at every program, or missing an intubation in front of the PD....YOU ARE STILL A STUDENT and they certainly don't expect you to perform at the level of an attending!!!!

my last thought to ponder is....when the gas match is supposedly getting really crazy, don't you think support from a program's own faculty could make the difference between ideal candidate A and ideal candidate B???

 

[Lonestar]

To frotteurism:

Gotta love your style.....

I think doing an away rotation can only hurt you. Your home program seems superb. There is a guy at our school who did not match this year, and he did a couple of away rotations. He is a very nice guy, below average in terms of stats, but i know personally that he is very dilligent and honest. Apparently, these last two qualities did not help him match. I so want him to match at a program. But it seems like playing the game is all that matters....

 

[frotteurism]

Yup, this is exactly how it always goes. Half swear by the externships, half say it'll kill you.

Earlier this year, I really wanted to do peds, so I decided to go balls out on that rotation (I think that means "try really hard".) I knew my stuff cold, and gave it 100%. However, I happened to draw uniteresting patients who were mostly off-service (and were therefore presented to a number of attendings rather than to a single attending), plus I just didn't click with the attending on service personality-wise. So, despite knowing my stuff and working hard, the rotation went terribly.

Anyway, if you look dreadful on paper and want to show you're better than that, I guess it makes sense. However, if you're even half-decent on paper, I think it's a huge risk...if it goes well, you're in. If not, you're out. It may go poorly, despite your best intentions.

Alright, my diatribe is finally complete. Basically, I decided not to do any externships, and am trying to convince myself on match-eve that I didn't inadvertently ruin my chances.

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[michigan]

Hey, thanks all for the replies, they're really helpful. I know my short list is random. I'm in the midwest and wouldn't mind staying but trying other areas out would be fine too. So here's my choices. I have 2 away rotations to do. I don't think I stand a chance at a big university type program. Would I be better off with a letter from a big program (and doing an away rotation there) from a place like UMich or Univ of Wis and one rotation at a community type place where I may stand a better chance, or be better off rotating through 2 community type departments?

As you can see I have decided to go the audition rotation way. In my situtation I feel like it is the way to go as we have no anesthesia dept. here at all and a rotation would be pretty weak in terms of name, prestige, etc.

Can anybody comment on approx. how many programs to apply to given my admittedly low stats?

Thanks so much in advance!
Mich

 

[R U SED 8]

Originally posted by frotteurism
Anyway, I elected not to do any externships. The anesthesia dept at my school strongly suggested it would be a waste of time.

Was it the right decision? Well, if I match where I want to go, the answer is obvious. If not, the answer is obvious. We'll find out in 2 days.

frotteurism,

if you don't mind, could you please let us know how things panned out?? certainly, your result (either way) won't resolve this controversial issue but perhaps it might help those in the classes behind us.....